Boston Registration

Although I wasn't involved this year in the spectacle which has become the registration for the Boston Marathon, it definitely got me to thinking.  Boston has always been the crown jewel of marathons because it was the only one that you had to earn a spot in; no lottery, no luck involved.  If you were good enough to qualify you were in.  Now that has changed.  By selling out in a day we are now presented with a situation in which a person could spend years training to achieve a BQ only to find themselves shut out on registration day.  Suddenly it is no longer good enough to be good enough to run; luck, and a high-speed internet connection, has entered into the mix.

B.A.A. Executive Director Guy Morse released a statement about the recent registration process in which he not-so-subtly hints that qualifying times will be getting tighter. Bad news for those of us who have had a specific time on our radar.  Are there other ways to make changes though?  Many people bemoan the inclusion of charity runners but as far as I can tell they are only a small portion of the field, maybe 3000 or so.  Some of those numbers could be taken back for qualifiers but I don't see that happening.  The other complaint I hear a lot is that the qualifying times for men and women are radically different and that it is much easier for women to qualify.  This makes sense since there is a 30 minute difference between qualifying times in the age groups, but is it really much easier for women to qualify?

There were 468,000 marathon finishing times recorded in the USA in 2009; here is a breakdown of the numbers (click to expand).

You can see that the difference in average times and qualifying times is pretty consistent.  The total average percent difference for men and women is only different by about .6% which is amazingly close.  This means that across all age groups both men and womens' qualifying times are an average 23% faster than the national average times for all runners.

If we drill into this more and break it down by age group we can get some further info.

Let's focus on the 35-39 age group.  There is a difference of 28:25 in the average times for male and female as opposed to the BQ spread of a half hour.  That one minute 35 seconds represents a 5.57% difference in allowed and actual times which seems to be a sizable discrepancy.  But if we then look solely at the differences between average times and BQ times we see that the difference shrinks to only 2.97%; showing that the assigned BQ times are very close to being the same percentage of the avg times for both men and women.  Statistically there is very little difference between the male and female numbers and so I could probably conclude that it actually isn't easier for women to qualify.

These numbers don't necessarily tell the whole story though.  For instance, the avg times include the nearly 42,000 people who finished over 6 hours.  Further breakdown would be needed in order to determine what age group these runners fall in to.  Obviously if a large portion of them fall into one age range this would skew the avg time much more than an age group with very few 6+ hour finishers.

Seeing the numbers it would appear that women do not have a statistical advantage over men in qualifying so there is no need to tighten the requirements on the women alone.  It will be interesting to see what he BAA does to try and mitigate the rush of registrations we saw this Monday.  Was it a self-perpetuating fluke fueled by unfounded rumor?  Or is this indicative of the marathons future?  Only time will tell but if this continues I fear it may become a harsh reality for those of us who may be good enough to qualify today to see our chances of qualifying become increasingly out of reach.

BayState II

Another BayState Marathon has come and gone.  Luckily this year the weather was significantly more pleasant than the cold rain we experienced last year.  I wasn't completely sure I was going to be able to run this time being that I had been out for so long.  Once I began training again it was a short 8 weeks until the marathon.  This was an aggressive training by any standard but especially so coming from considering that I would be starting with no base mileage at all.  Hell, even the Couch to 5K program takes 9 weeks.  The week before the race I finished my first and only 20-miler and it felt good so I was determined to run the full marathon.

And I'm glad I did because I had fun doing it.  Once again the lines at the bathrooms were crazy before the race so I spent a long time waiting there until I had to abandon that venture and rush to the start.  Because of the delay I had lost the rest of the group and I was on my own.  I tucked into the start somewhere in the middle and waited for the start.  Finally we were off and I figured I would run a bit faster than planned and try to catch up with everyone, assuming that they were actually in front of me.

The miles ticked off until around mile 5 I caught up with Michael and Tricia G.  I said hi to them but honestly, that pace was way to slow for me so I left them and was determined to catch Melissa and Tricia whom I was told were ahead.  Off I went, feeling great and having a good time until 6 miles later I found Melissa.  We ran together for a bit with me doing most of the talking until the bridge where I left her to catch up to Tricia who had been about 100 yards ahead of us.  Again, we ran together for a couple of miles but I could tell that she was struggling to keep pace so I did what any good teammate would do, I took off at a faster pace and left her behind.  Hey, it's a race!

From then forward there isn't much to report.  I set my pace and I maintained the pace.  Besides a couple of minor cramps at 19 and 25.7 (so close to the finish!) I had no difficulty finishing.  Sure I was tired but I kept expecting to hit the wall and it never came.  Besides the cramp, I felt as strong the last 5 miles as I did the middle 5 miles.  Furthermore, my foot was never an issue (although it has ached since) so this was a good test of how it was healing.  I used this marathon as an indicator of where I stand and what needs work and I am pleased with the results.  I still need to keep an eye on the foot for it is still clearly not 100% and I definitely need to work on strengthening my legs more but that will come in time.  Overall I am very happy with my 3:42:28 time, even though it is my slowest marathon, and was happy that I decided to run.

Taper Week

Here we are with less than a week to go before BayState, seems like a good place to start a taper.  Saturday I did a 20-miler that went well.  I got up nice and early and headed out the door and into the dark.  It was the first time in awhile that I have run in the cold, around 40 degrees, and it was a bit strange having a long sleeved shirt and gloves on.  The sky was clear and dark and I was all alone, the world around me existed only to the edge of where my headlamp would illuminate.

I reached the start of the woods that my route took me through and the trees closed in around me.  Falling acorns and branches seemed to become louder as they crashed to the ground and I found myself trying to peer into the dark forest surrounding me a bit too often.  Perhaps choosing to listen to a scary Doctor Who audiobook about a troll under a bridge was not my wisest choice for this run.  Then I thought about the possibility of running into some coyotes; that got me to quicken my pace a bit even though I dismissed the thought.  (Note: a pack of them ran by my house last night so this actually could have been a real scenario).

Soon the forest opened up to an open expanse and I had to stop at the bridge over the Charles.  The sun was rising over the conservation land and the clouds were alight with fiery colors.  Reds and oranges streaked across the sky, heralding the start of a new dawn.  A fine mist hung over the water and plants.  A crane took its first flight of the day.  It was quiet as I stood there by myself, taking it all in.  I switched off my headlamp; the dark forest had opened up onto a rich tableau of color and light.  It's moments like this that make it all worth it; scenes which can never be adequately described but will remain with me until the next time.  With a last look I turned and quietly resumed running.  It was already a good morning.

Marking Time

It's been awhile since I last posted; so what have I been up to?  Not much.  In mid-September I decided that it was time to test out the legs so I ran the CVS Downtown 5K.  This was the seventh year I have run this 5K so there was also a bit of nostalgic reasons for picking that race.  For the seventh year in a row the weather was fantastic and it was a great day all around.  I finished somewhere in the mid-20 minute range which is just what I expected.  But it wasn't easy, it took everything I had at the end to hold on so that means I need to do a lot more speed work to get beck to any type of race shape.

Other than that I have just been cruising along, literally and figuratively.  The highlights of my weeks have been the long runs on the weekend which have been going pretty well. Two weeks ago I went out with Jeff W. and we did 18.4 around Ponkapoag which was a great change of scenery.  Unfortunately this was followed up the next week with 2 hours 45 minutes on my treadmill due to torrential downpours.  Nothing quite so unsettling as stepping off of a treadmill after hours of running and feeling the room rush by you; I hate that feeling.

I have had virtually no interest in racing as of late.  BayState is two weeks away and the most excitement I can muster for it is an occasional "meh".  I'm three to four weeks off of what would be considered a normal marathon training schedule and 15 pounds overweight which shows just how serious I have approached this.  But it's not only the marathon that has me ambivalent, I haven't signed up a single race and wouldn't even be doing BayState if it hadn't been paid for months ago.  Nor have I even looked at a schedule of races to see if there is any I would consider doing; and the freakin' race calendar is literally 12 inches in front of my face hanging on the wall in front of me as I type this!  That should tell me something.

The one race I was actually looking forward to doing was the Halloween duathlon in Wrentham.  Two months  ago I paid for a new bike and have yet to receive it.  First it was supposed to arrive in early September.  Then it was delayed, then it shipped out last Monday, then on Friday it was on backorder, and etc.  It could be at the bottom of the ocean as far as I know right now.  Long story short, I won't be doing that race.

Where do I go from here?  I have no plan. I have no endgame. For now I am just running because that's what I do.  Damn, this post turned out more depressing then I intended.  Schade.

God is pissed!

I'm not sure which deity I pissed off or why but I'm pretty sure one of them is out to get me.

Monday was the Walpole 10K and I was seriously contemplating running it.  Last Saturday I had managed to get out and do eight miles so I had the distance behind me.  Monday morning I was still undecided but at the last moment I opted to pass on it.  My rationale was that I have been following a conservative rehab program so now was no the best time to jump into a race that I knew would get me to push my pace faster than I should.  Not only that, but my speed has gone to hell and I didn't want to embarrass myself.  But mostly the rehab part.

Instead of the race I gathered up my gear and headed out for a long run, somewhere in the ten mile range, at a nice comfortable pace.  The route I chose would take me through Noon Hill.  it's not the easiest route due to the hills but the low volume of traffic and being surrounded by trees for most of it makes for a peaceful time.  As I made my way through I passed some people out walking their dogs along the trails and then a thought came to me.  I could do some trail running too.

The trail head was just coming up so I stopped and consulted the map.  Lo and behold the trail did seem to come out near where I was headed anyway so why not do some off-roading!  Away I went barreling down the trail with only the vaguest notion of where it would come out; you see, the map didn't actually show what road the trail finished on, it just showed part of a road.  But I was having fun, even though the strange signage did send me down a side trail at one point accidentally.  No harm done though, it soon looped right back into the main path.

Back on the trail I was cruising down a hill and was just about to hit the bottom of it when suddenly, as I began bringing my right foot back forward from the end of a stride, I hit a root at full speed.  Luckily my toes were slightly angled up so there were no broken toes but that was the good news.  As I lurched forward from the sudden deceleration my left leg drove into the ground in front of me.  My knee was already bent so it was able to absorb the shock without any issues.  But as Newton has taught us, a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and my body continued its motion forward until it forcefully connected with my now motionless knee. The knee hit me squarely in the lower ribs and boy did it hurt.

"Walk it off", I kept repeating.  "Walk it off".

Luckily it wasn't severe enough to stop my run and I made it home some time later.

That was Monday.  It still hurts today.  I'm pretty sure nothing is broken but it really wouldn't be much different if it was.  Fortunately it only hurts when I lay on that side, when I am running, from coughing, sneezing, touching it, climbing stairs, walking, or breathing.

I don't know what I did to piss of a higher power but I'M SORRY!  Now please, leave me alone so I can get back to doing fun things.

Spoke too soon

In my last post I spoke about the progress I was making and that I hoped I wouldn't jinx myself.  Well I did.  During today's run I developed some nasty blisters.

That'll teach me to be optimistic.

Progress

I don't want to jinx it, but I am making some progress.  The running is going well and while the ache in my foot continues, it has shown no sign of getting worse.  I haven't tried to do any speed-work or hills or anything other than straight-up running but I may start incorporating them back into my routine soon.  This weekend we went up to Maine so Saturday I went out and ran eight miles.  Most of it was slow but I was more interested in the length so the pace didn't bother me at all.  More importantly is that I finished fast and strong so the whole run was rather encouraging.  It's good to see my mileage getting back up there.

Sunday I decided to go for a bike ride to enjoy Maine's scenery.  I kitted up Sherman and set of in the wee hours for what I hoped was going to be an enjoyable trek.  Clearly I had completely forgotten that we were surrounded by mountain-sized hills.  This realization came crashing in on me very quickly as the ride became a succession of long painful climbs followed by a short burst of speed on the downhill and then quickly down-shifting for the next hill.  But this is how we get better.  Right?

Riding through the heart of Raymond I was given a brief respite as it was mostly flat because it was the top of the hill.  The elevation also allowed me to get my first cell signal of the weekend. Soon I came to the down side of the hill where I had the most fun of the ride; my speed topped out at almost 40 mph as I bombed down the road, hoping that a moose didn't decide to walk out into the open at that exact moment.

Alas, the fun couldn't last and it was back to the long slow climbs.  This continued for several miles, but at least it evened out a bit so it was a somewhat pleasant ride along a big lake.  I was enjoying the scenery and the nice, sunny day until I came up to the intersection of Rt 26 where I needed to...wait, Rt 26?  That wasn't on my route.  Dammit!  I missed my turn!  A consult with the map showed that I could take a road and cut back to where I wanted to be but this little detour added about 8 miles to the ride.  Super.

Off I went, trying not to get killed on the absolute worst road I have ever ridden on, until I was making my way back to the road that would get me back home.  I knew I was getting closer to my last turn, although I couldn't help but notice the very large and steep hill that was getting nearer and nearer.  Where the hell was the turn?  No freakin' way was I going to make it up that monster hill.  It had a radio tower on top of it!  For the first time though, luck was on my side.  The road I was looking for ran along the base of the hill.  Finally I was heading towards home and man was I tired.

My luck was short-lived; they had saved the best for last.  A couple miles down the road began the longest and steepest section of the entire route.  Looking up the hill I couldn't help but curse its very existence.  I rapidly down-shifted and kept doing so until I found myself in first. Yes, I actually had to use first gear.  The climb began and didn't stop until nearly two miles later when finally, tired, worn out, and increasingly frustrated with the entire state of Maine, I emerged at the peak. At this point the terrain took pity on me and it was mostly downhill from there. Arriving home at last I rapidly took off my shoes, threw off my shirt, and submerged myself in the lake.  Aaah.

You can just make out the mountain goats on that last peak